104 FIRST-RATE COWS. 



but may also be found on cows which can scarcely be 

 called good, and which should be ranked in the next 

 class. But cows, whether having very well-developed 

 mirrors or not, may be reckoned as very good, and as 

 giving as much milk as is to be expected from their 

 size, feed, and the hygienic circumstances in which they 

 are kept, if they present the following characteristics: 



Veins of the perineum large, as if swollen, and visible 

 on the exterior, as in Figs. 29 — 32, or which can be 

 easily made to appear by pressing upon the base of the 

 perineum : veins of the udder large and knotted, milk- 

 veins large, often double, equal on both sides, and 

 forming zig-zags under the belly. 



To the signs furnished by the veins and by the mir- 

 ror may be added also the following marks : A uniform, 

 very large and yielding udder, shrinking much in milk- 

 ing, and covered with soft skin and fine hair; good 

 constitution, full chest, regular appetite, and great pro- 

 pensity to drink. Cows rather inclining to be poor than 

 fat. Soft, yielding skin, short, fine hair, small head, fine 

 horns, bright, sparkling eye, mild expression, feminine 

 look, with a fine neck. 



Cows of this first class are very rare. They give, 

 even when small in size, from ten to fourteen quarts of 

 milk a day, and the largest sized from eighteen to 

 twenty-six quarts a day, and even more. Just after 

 calving, if arrived at maturity and fed with good, 

 wholesome, moist food in sufficient quantity and 

 quality, adapted to promote the secretion of milk, 

 they can give about a pint of milk for every ten 

 ounces of hay, or its equivalent, which they eat. 



They continue in milk for a long period. The best 

 never go dry, and may be milked even up to the time 

 of calving, giving from eight to twelve quarts of milk 

 a day. The Dutch cow, Fig. 54, was giving daily 



